Gone but not forgotten

Kirksaeter:

In 1987 or so my soon-to-be-wife and I went shopping for speakers at a local brick and mortar hifi store here in the DC metro area named Audio Associates. We listened to a speaker brand from Germany named Kirksaeter.  She nodded in approval.   That was my WAF for our soon-to-be family.   Kirksaeter had a substantial product line of receivers and speakers in Germany and marketed some speakers here in the DC mid-atlantic area.   You still see a number of Kirksaeter products on HiFiShark but in Europe.   Kirksaeter went out of business I guess around 2000 or so.    I have three pairs of Kirksaeters in my living room powered  with three separate BlueSound PowerNodes bundled as a "group".  These are sealed "acoustic suspension"  speakers with a teak veneer.  Back then there was what was said to be an "east coast sound"  and a "west coast sound".  The "east coast sound" was typical of Advent with acoustic suspension and the "west coast sound" was generally ported speakers such as Altec Lansing. These Kirksaeter monitors are typical of that "east coast sound".     

I have a few Kirksaeters myself and really enjoy them. To my ears they’re accurate, easy to drive, and very non-fatiguing, which lines up well with that “east coast sound” you mentioned. They don’t try to impress you in the first thirty seconds, but they’re easy to live with and listen to for hours. It doesn’t hurt that they’re darn nice to look at, either. 

Too many are gone, but golden-era Infinity and Krell are at the top of the missed list.

Of the ones reputed dead, Crown is very much alive. So is Genesis, for better or for worse.

Sonic Frontiers

I have a hopped-up pair of Power 3's amps that Chris from Part Connexion upgraded heavily for me.  The Power 3's are running KT120's now (total of 16!).  

Nakamichi is another with notable mentions.  I had a Nakamich Dragon 6 disc CD changer-transport and DAC.  It is a beautiful sound piece.  

DCM Speakers - Had a nice pair of bookshelf speakers, & inexpensive.

I had a pair of Sonab OD-11 Cube speakers that were very enjoyable, punched quite above their class.  Wish I still had them.

Years later, I got a lot of stunning music from a system comprised of California Audio Labs transport and DAC (Alpha and Delta, I think), Audio Research LS3 (later an LS26) preamp, Krell KSA 200 amp and Thiel 3.6 speakers.  I miss all of those components and the synergy of the system.